Friday, July 25, 2008

This is my Atlanta song. I lived there in 1992-1993. My attachment to it and Alice In Chains preceded its heavy rotation on clear channel rock stations throughout the 90s.So sue me if you'e heard this one before... I had so much trauma connected to the end of my stay in Atlanta that I needed release,but I needed a displacement of the brutal anger and sadness as a result of the complete betrayal at the hands of everyone I knew in fucking Georgia. I knew if I had stayed, I would have hurt someone. It was that bad. I'm not a violent guy. The only "fight" I've ever been in was not really a fight at all. A close friend of mine(on this e mail list)asked me a question, I gave him a hurtful answer and he punched me in the face right at the place we work. I deserved it.end of story. I didn't hit him back, I'm not a fighter. And I've never been back to Georgia either. Dog fights, confederate flags, the KKK...all got their starts in Georgia. I think. Besides, the NORTH won, assholes.The late great Layne Staley, singer of Alice in Chains....had demons that punched him in the face every day until his last breath came soon after a lethal speedball was enjoyed during a game of Halo...... those demons made sure he was alone and finally took him in 2002. He was not a violent man, but his music was his release from addiction, alienation,pain and sorrow. I love Layne's voice.Effortless flow from low moan to gritty screams.... It is probably, besides Eddy Vedder's and Elvis', the most imitated voice in Rock and Roll history....I will not dignify the one hit blunder grunge-lite bands that tried and failed here . Just know that they all suck shit through a straw.The Dirt album, in 1992-1993, was the album I played more than anything before or since, mostly because I really only played Siamese Dream and Astral Weeks and Dirt in those two years...All Atlanta music....Layne's pain resonated with me and the crushing guitars,drums and fantastic harmonies did too. They were the only high ranking Seattle band to pull off such powerful harmonies, and sometimes I could never tell if it was Layne's voice or Jerry Cantrell's(guitar).

The song tells the story of Jerry's fathers "vision" of Vietnam, he being the"Rooster". That's cool....I cannot really relate to that but I can relate to the brain punishing, soaring wail of Layne throughout the song....hard to process words like YEAHHHHHHHHHH and NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. But boy did they hit where it hurts...That's Release, people. And it helps in a pinch, believe me.

Long live Layne Staley's legacy. A true original who never even knew what talent he possessed......